Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1887-02-03
WHAT'S In A NAME?
Some Wonderful Specimens Prov.
ing It's Significance.
Surnames Descriptive of Mental Character
istics, Occupations, Personal Appear
ance, Etc.-The Advantage Of
Having q Good Name.

entering the world were assigned a
number the plan would have many
features to recommend it. Directo-
ries would be simplified; there would
be no chance of confusion with twenty
four Mrs. Joneses in one place. and to
address letter to you would have
nothing to do but write on the envelope,
say: "No. 9,243,769, Esq" But with
these manifest advantages there would
be considerable loss. When Juliet said:
whats in a name?" she talked, as
lovers often do, at random. Her speech
to Romeo Montague is beautiful, but it
is not logic. She was, indeed, as any
one with critical eye can see, in the
strangest confusion about the difference
between Christian and surname.
That Romeo did not correct her on the
instant can only be accounted for by
the fact that he himself was not in a
fit state of mind for playing the in
structor. There is great deal in sur
names. What glimpses of old life they
sometimes give us; they are little bits
of history; revelations of human in
terest; scraps of poetry and humor;
notes of affection, ridicule. sarcasm and
impertinence; often stories condensed
into a single word. A large number of
surnames consist of the fathers name
with the addition of 'son. or an equiv
alent for son, like Mac or Fitz. Names
of this sort often fluctuate from genera
ton to generation. Alan Waterson. for
example. had a son Walter who called
himself Walter Allanson." Other names
are purely local in origin, names such
as Dale. Brook, Marsh, Land, Wood
and Heath. Among local names we
may also include Kent. Cornish, Wilt
shire, Devonish. Ireland, Welsh and
such like. Granville may be classed
among local names. 1t is told that
Lord Lyttleton once disputed with the
head of the Granvilles, which was of
the older family. asserting his own to
be of the more ancient, inasmuch as
the little town must necessarily have
existed before the grande vile. Offices,
occupation and condition gave rise to
other names. Thus we have Smith,
Cook. Shepherd, Plowman, Knight. Cor
ner (Coroner), Archer. Singer, Justice,
Provost, Dresser, Chapman, BorbOur
and host of more. The surnames of
occupation form wonderful guide to
the industries of our fOrefathers. Those
who kept shops or inns got surnames
hnl SItr Nx-hS nh
accounts for many surnames of
fanciful order John ut the Bell
became John Bell; Thomas at the
Rose became Thomas Rose: Oliver
ut the Thorne became Oliver Thorne;
and Nicholas at the Sparrow became
Nicholas Sparrow. A large class of
names is devoted to the description of
personal appearance, manner and
character. We find outward peculiar
tiles indicated in an immense number,
such as Longman. Shortman, Small
man, Big, Little, Thick, Thin, Shorter,
Stronger, Black. White and Brown.
Mental characteristics have given rise
to such surnames as Good, Patient,
Wise, Gay, Sage, Blythe. Merry, Make
peace. Grave, Sweet. Proud, Meek,
Humble and Jolly. People who re-
minded their neighbors of birds, beasts,
fish and insects have transmitted to
their descendants many surnames, of
which examples may be seen in our col
lection. Not few names illustrating
personal appearance and character
have evidently been originally nick
names; Cruikshank, Glutton, Penny
father Tor miser), for example. Oc-
casionally, as in the case of Swindler,
the name has the air of ..giving a piece
of ones mind" The frequency with
which particular names are met with
varies with the locality. In Scotland
the locality of some names is particu-
larry well defined. We have Mac
Donald, Mackenzie, Robertson and
Stewart in the north; Scott, Kerr,
Elliot, Johnston and Maxwell
in the south; Gordon, Forbes,
Grant and Ogilvie in the east;
and Campbell, Cameron. Mac
Lean and Kennedy in the west. This
arises from the clansmen having made
a practice of taking the name of their
chiefs and considering themselves menu